Question About Moldmaking Materials

[Albertese]

Question for you guys:

So, I'm working on a project modeling a historical building. It was originally built in the 1870s and it has all the typical Colonial flourishes one would expect from the period. The details are highly repetitive, so my strategy is to scratchbuild some styrene masters of the building's various parts and copy them in resin. The problem is, I have very limited experience with resin. I wonder what materials you guys might recommend for capturing fine details, both in terms of making the molds and what resin to use. To give an idea of what I'm working on, here's a pic of the current WIP state of one of the master sections:






It's on a one inch grid to help show you the scale of the details.

What materials would you recommend for this kinda thing? I'm hoping to hear about brands and suppliers here, so I can look into getting the best stuff with out experimenting on a series of losers along the way.

This model, once finished, will be on public display, so, I want it to be pretty good.

Thanks!

--Alex

 

[leviathanworksh]

Hi

So I mould and cast alot of my work and for what you are dping I would suggest making a silicone block mould and casting it in a quick cast resin. Which type of silicone is upto you, I would speak to your local supplier, for the amount of detail you have I would look very seriously at getting a de-gasser to improve the quality of the mould.

Looks for both a silicone and a resin with a good shore hardness and a low shrinkage. Also if your piece needs to be fire retardant for display, some Aluminium T additive will solve that and also help reduce shrink.


Jake

 

[clonesix]

Hi Albertese,

My work filters all photos, so I am unable to see the pics posted. Here are my thoughts to get you going:

Smooth-On is the first place to look for materials, both silicone molding and Urethane castings supplies can be found there. They also have many demonstrational videos to explain using the materials. But WAIT! There's more: YouTube has many videos on molding and casting. Much information can be gleaned there.

 

[JFB64]

I've done loads of RTV mold making and urethane resin casting. I also recommend Smooth On. They have a range of products and tutorials on their web site.

Joe

 

[Gattaca]

I endorse Smooth on as well, OOMOO is easy to use and generally does not need de-gassing (a vacuum chamber to remove bubbles). I have also had good success with the mold max series, you will need a scale to measure the mix properly. It was mentioned above about making a block mold, just be sure your work table is perfectly level when you do this, otherwise you will run into problems when you go to cast your final project. Smooth cast 300 is pretty good stuff for casting, easy to sand and fast.
Good Luck!